5/3/2023 0 Comments Urron redhandThe War of Five Kings, or perhaps more accurately a war of twelve kings. If we parallel this with Jon, we see so many similarities. The men of the Night’s Watch did not hold true, and so the Others could pass the Wall. Next, he lost his ability to tell a lie from the truth. When the Others came, the false kings died, one-by-one. The last hero was a brother of the Night’s Watch, perhaps even Lord Commander. “I know what I swore.” Jon said the words. For we are the swords in the darkness, the watchers on the walls.” When the last hero broke his sword, he broke his word. Swords and words have long been associated in literature, trailing all the way back to the Bible and beyond. Justin Massey instinctively put his hand on his sword hilt when he swore to his king because when you swear your sword, you give your word. “On my honor as a knight, you have my word.” Ser Justin put one hand on his sword hilt. And what is his sword? (No, not that! I mean another interpretation.) Remember, the lie is the game, the truth is the song.Īnd finally, the last hero’s sword snapped. When the last hero’s dog died, he lost the ability to tell a lie from the truth. “A hound will die for you, but never lie to you.”Ī dog can smell a lie, you know, the Hound had told her once. If Jaime’s dry wit is not enough then we need only cross to the Dothraki Sea for further support.Īmong the Dothraki, the man who does not ride was no man at all, the lowest of the low, without honor or pride.Ī man without a horse is, allegorically at least, a man without honor. “Your word of honor?” Ser Brynden raised an eyebrow. All false, as there can only be one true king, and so one-by-one they all perished. “All twelve o’ them,” Lem Lemoncloak muttered. Well, here’s to His Grace,” Anguy the Archer called out cheerfully, lifting a toast. A more straight-forward clue comes from a conversation between Anguy and Lem Lemoncloak. The companions were rulers of ancient houses, each with their own ambitions. It’s not unusual for ancient tales and myths to be retold in the stars, or legendary characters to be remembered in constellations, like the blue-eyed Ice Dragon, the Moonmaid, or the Sword of the Morning. Maester Luwin had taught him his stars as a boy in Winterfell he had learned the names of the twelve houses of heaven and the rulers of each In an allegorical sense the companions were a dozen kings from the hundred kingdoms of the First Men. It’s natural to assume these twelve were his friends or sworn swords, but that is too literal an interpretation. The last hero set out with a dozen companions. However, like any ancient tale that has been passed from mouth to ear through a hundred generations, we should be cautious about taking it too literally, because in truth it is an allegory. It’s so long ago it’s impossible to tell how it really happened, but I think we can be certain that there is some truth to the tale. It’s a tale from thousands of years past, the last hero determined to find the children of the forest in the hope that their ancient magic could end the Long Night. And the Others smelled the hot blood in him, and came silent on his trail, stalking him with packs of pale white spiders big as hounds-” One by one his friends died, and his horse, and finally even his dog, and his sword froze so hard the blade snapped when he tried to use it. For years he searched, until he despaired of ever finding the children of the forest in their secret cities. He set out into the dead lands with a sword, a horse, a dog, and a dozen companions. So as cold and death filled the earth, the last hero determined to seek out the children, in the hopes that their ancient magics could win back what the armies of men had lost. Yet here and there in the fastness of the woods the children still lived in their wooden cities and hollow hills, and the faces in the trees kept watch. “Now these were the days before the Andals came, and long before the women fled across the narrow sea from the cities of the Rhoyne, and the hundred kingdoms of those times were the kingdoms of the First Men, who had taken these lands from the children of the forest.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |